Dragons run past Rams

AUGUSTA — The Cony offense has been pretty unstoppable this season but on Friday night the Rams ran into an opponent that could slow them down — themselves.

The Rams turned the ball over four times while visiting Brunswick did not give the ball away once as the Dragons scored a 52-27 victory at Alumni Field.

“Turnovers killed us,” Cony coach Robby Vachon said. “Also on the other side of things we’re pretty young in the secondary and they made a couple nice plays. We just didn’t get it done on that side of the ball. You can’t give up 52 points. We can’t score 50 or 60 points every single game.”

As Vachon points out, the Rams had their struggles defensively against the Dragons.

Brunswick accumulated 507 yards of total offense for the game, more than half of which came from senior Alex Bandouveres and junior Will Bessey. Bandouveres rushed 22 times for 150 yards and a touchdown in the contest, while Bessey racked up 187 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 24 carries.

For all the impressive numbers Brunswick put up, Cony was right with the Dragons early in the third quarter.

A big first half from quarterback Mitchell Caron and wide receiver Tayler Carrier kept the Rams within striking distance at the break, trailing only 28-20. The senior duo connected on touchdown passes of eight, 26 and 27 yards in the first half, as Carrier hauled in eight passes for 90 yards in the first 24 minutes.

“He’s a great football player,” Vachon said of Carrier. “I think you saw that (Friday).”

Caron, meanwhile, was absolutely surgical in carving up the Brunswick defense. He completed 16 of 18 passes in the first half for 196 yards and the three touchdowns, with one interception off a tipped pass intended for Carrier.

“He’s been really good for us,” Vachon said. “He’s had very good decision making, which coming into the season we weren’t sure because he’s had so few reps but he’s done a nice job for us all year.”

Caron was back at it early in the second half, albeit thanks to a little luck. The Rams attempted to set up a screen to Joel Bennett, but it was nearly intercepted and batted up in the air by a Brunswick defender.

Fortunately for Cony, running back Reid Shostak managed to alertly catch the ball and run it 65 yards — thanks in large part to a crushing down-field block by Carrier — for a touchdown to cut the deficit to a single point with 9:38 remaining in the third quarter.

“They started off and we didn’t prevent much,” Brunswick coach Dan Cooper said. “They were going up and down the field pretty easily.”

A series of Cony miscues over the next six minutes would allow the Dragons to break the game wide open though.

The Rams had Brunswick backed up to a third-and-6 at their own 18-yard line, but in an instant the Dragons swung momentum back on their side. Tom Hanson lofted a pass 30 yards down field over the outstretched arms of a Cony defender to Ricky Klatt and the senior wideout did the rest, racing down the sidelines for an 82-yard touchdown reception.

Cony had the ball for only just a few seconds before it gave it back, as the Caron’s pass was tipped on the first play of the ensuing possession and picked off by Tristan Graves.

Three plays later the Dragons found themselves backed up to third-and-17 at the Cony 48-yard line, but once again found a way out of trouble as Hanson connected with Bessey for a 23-yard gain to give Brunswick the first down. Hunter Garrett capped off the drive with a four-yard touchdown plunge four plays later to give the Dragons a commanding 44-27 lead with 3:57 to play in the third quarter.

“It was going to be an offensive shootout,” Cooper said. “Just like last year, the team that got turnovers and took care of the ball was going to win.”

For the game Caron finished 23-for-33 with 313 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions, while Carrier had just one catch for 20 yards in the second half. Shostak finished with 42 yards rushing on seven carries and also caught five passes for 126 yards.

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